Rockies' C.J. Cron headlines fantasy baseball sleepers in 2021
Yahoo Sports' Andy Behrens, Dalton Del Don and Scott Pianowski discuss a few sleeper picks, including a first baseman who hit 4 HR as a member of the Detroit Tigers last season.
Video Transcript
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ANDY BEHRENS: Welcome back to Yahoo Fantasy Baseball in 2021. Oh, today we're talking sleepers, and this is a dangerous term. Everybody thinks of it differently. For our purposes here, we're gonna talk about players who are going outside the top 200 picks in an average Yahoo fantasy draft. So they are buried in the ranks. They are buried in your draft tool. You can get them for a song.
Scott Pianowski, who are you drafting? You've got America's sleeper here, I think.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: I do have America's sleeper, and I don't know how long he'll be outside the top 220. Right now, CJ Cron is not cleared to be Colorado's starting first baseman. In fact, if you look at him in the Yahoo draft app, you'll see the NRI next to him, non-roster invitee. Pay no mind to that. Do not be worried. I have it on good intel that he has the inside track to being the starting first baseman.
We know what that means. Coors Field, great place to hit. This is somebody who has always been a 20 to 25 home run bat, and sometimes he hasn't played all the time. If he can get a full-time job in Colorado, I'm thinking .270 and 30 home runs might be in play, and that's really delicious outside of the top 200. Again, 235 in Yahoo ADP as we go to tape today. I think that's going to creep forward as the spring goes along, so try to get your drafts going as soon as you can and take advantage of this discount while it's available.
ANDY BEHRENS: I love that call. I'll just say CJ Cron is the right answer to this question, but we've all got to pick somebody. I'm going with Zach Eflin. Had a terrific year for Philadelphia last season. 10.7 K per nine. That's a pretty good number. Had decent ratios, despite having no luck whatsoever on balls in play. 3.39, fifth last season.
If the luck irons out a little bit this year, we're looking at good ratios. And, again, high K total. And the fact that we're not gonna have a universal DH is gonna help all these National League starters. So I like Eflin a great deal as a way to finish off my fantasy rotation. Dalton Del Don, who do you like?
DALTON DEL DON: I'll go a little bit deeper here with Freddy Peralta on the Brewers. He's not even a lock to open the year in their rotation, but he is being stretched out. His K-minus-walk percentage last year would have ranked top five had he qualified. He had a better expected ERA than Gerrit Cole and Clayton Kershaw. He's now introducing a slider to help combat the lefties.
He no doubt benefited from pitching in the Central, like everyone did last year, but Peralta also had a 2.41 FIP. Now he gets the addition of Kolten Wong's glove at second base. Miller Park has increased strikeouts by 10% the last three seasons. That's the second most in baseball. Listen, there isn't a pitcher going later in drafts with more upside than Freddy Peralta.
ANDY BEHRENS: I love that call. It helps when no one can score off of your bullpen too. Great call, Dalton. Remember, folks, get yourself signed up for fantasy baseball today. Go to sports.yahoo.com/fantasy. Get a team, get two, get three.